Elizabeth Acevedo is the bestselling YA author of The Poet X, among many others. Her newest is Anger is Only a Shadow, out tomorrow from Quill Tree Books. Below, she recommends three of her favorite YA books about mental health. (Photo credit: Denzel Golatt.)
I’ve been really interested in how YA novels consider the mental health of the protagonist, and the ways that these characters are able to find and implement different tools for emotional regulation. As we know, and as the CDC confirms, there has been an increase in the number of teenagers reporting that they experience high levels of sadness, hopelessness, and anxiety. Novels that affirm teens’ experiences without resorting to didacticism are crucial for helping young people feel seen, and also for offering different modes of coping.
Here are some of my favorite YA books of the last five years that deal with mental health.
Everything We Never Had by Randy RibayThis is a novel that follows four generations of Filipino boys as they traverse manhood, love, justice, and community. Each character has a different way of processing his feelings, and the youngest protagonist, Enzo, deals with severe anxiety, for which he sees a therapist. Ribay does a fantastic job of depicting imperfections in the characters, how the youngest among them is able to model grace, and what it means to truly acknowledge the past in order to release oneself from its hold. |
All The Fighting Parts by Hannah SawyerrAfter undergoing sexual assault by her youth pastor, sixteen-year-old Amina finds herself incapable of accessing the assertive and defiant voice she’d had prior to that sexual violence. Told through verse, the book shows how Amina learns to rely on trusted allies, challenge the inner voice that tells her people won’t believe her, and also lean on the adults in her life. This is a novel that moves through the varying emotions that come with being a victim of molestation, including self-forgiveness and empathy toward other victims. |
Love Radio by Ebony LaDelleIn this dual-perspective love story, LaDelle offers a narrative in which the main characters deal with PTSD, anxiety, and parentification. Both teens feel the weight of their parents’ expectations heavy on their shoulders, and each one deals with past situations that have left them shielding parts of their truth. The way mental health care is offered in this novel is not through therapy, but rather, we see the main characters engage in music therapy, in journaling as a way to process and to let people in. This is a novel that reminds us that wounds need a witness. |
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